Tenable Nessus vs Tenable Vulnerability Management comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 6, 2024

We compared Tenable Nessus and Tenable Vulnerability Management based on our user's reviews in several parameters.

Tenable Nessus is highly praised for its customer service, cost-effectiveness, and valuable cybersecurity enhancements, while Tenable Vulnerability Management is commended for its efficient scanning capabilities and accurate reporting. Users specifically highlight the ease of use of Tenable Nessus and the need for improvements in the user interface and scan speed for Tenable Vulnerability Management.

Features: Tenable Nessus is praised for its comprehensive scanning capabilities and ability to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities, while Tenable Vulnerability Management stands out for its accurate reporting and effective vulnerability prioritization. Users also appreciate the ease of use for both products.

Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for Tenable Nessus is considered relatively low, while Tenable Vulnerability Management has a straightforward and hassle-free setup process. Users appreciate the licensing process of both products, with Tenable Nessus offering a straightforward process and Tenable Vulnerability Management offering flexible options tailored to specific needs., Tenable Nessus provides significant value with its effective vulnerability identification, reliable scanning, comprehensive reporting, and ease of use. Tenable Vulnerability Management excels in efficiency, risk documentation, ease of use, and integration with existing infrastructure.

Room for Improvement: Tenable Nessus has received feedback on areas for improvement, while Tenable Vulnerability Management needs enhancements in user interface, scan speed, customization options, reporting capabilities, and addressing software glitches and false positives.

Deployment and customer support: The users' reviews for Tenable Nessus and Tenable Vulnerability Management show differences in the duration required for establishing a new tech solution. While some users mentioned separate timeframes for deployment and setup for Tenable Vulnerability Management, it is likely that for Tenable Nessus, these terms refer to the same period., Customers have expressed high regard for the customer service and support provided by both Tenable Nessus and Tenable Vulnerability Management. They have praised the effectiveness, responsiveness, and knowledge of the support teams in resolving issues promptly. Customers have also mentioned their satisfaction with the level of assistance and guidance provided.

The summary above is based on 64 interviews we conducted recently with Tenable Nessus and Tenable Vulnerability Management users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.

To learn more, read our detailed Tenable Nessus vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: What's the difference between Tenable Nessus and Tenable.io Vulnerability Management?
Answer: Both, but I prefer Nessus Pro (costs and you can define out-of-band your better presentation/xLAP platform). Tenable.io has its facilities and extra plugins/views/analytics, but nothing that can't be externally performed by another ETL/presentation tool (for a fraction of cost, sometimes using free toolings like Pentaho, OpenRefine, OBIEE and others).
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Nessus is effortless to integrate.""Out of the box, the product works well for us, so it's not a tool that we need to customize very much.""The initial setup is very straightforward.""The automatic scanner and scheduler are pretty cool.""Tenable Nessus has a good performance, is very user-friendly, and is easy to use.""The product's most valuable features are vulnerability and asset management. It can define the rules and validate the configuration.""It is easy to deploy and easy to use. Its reporting is good. From this reporting, you can see the pain point in your network, which makes it easy to fix them. It is easy to understand the reports and export them.""It gives a holistic view of your entire environment."

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"Technical support has been good. They respond quite quickly.""The solution creates vulnerability tickets within the VM profile but should also include them under the Remediation tab so the fixes can be viewed in the ticketing queue.""You can customize each point in new scans.""The initial setup is straightforward so long as your infrastructure, components, and networks are in place.""It is pretty stable. I would rate it nine or maybe ten.""The solution is quite friendly.""The solution is easy to use and configuration is smooth with no complexities.""The product is easy to use."

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Cons
"I would like to have a management option after the network scanning.""You can scale Nessus to the extent that you can afford it. You need to have a license for every device you scan. As long as you can afford the increased costs, you won't have a problem scaling it.""I think the reporting templates could be improved with Tenable Nessus.""The price could be more reasonable. I used the free Nessus version in my lab with which you can only scan 16 IP addresses. If I wanted to put it in the lab in my network at work, and I'm doing a test project that has over 30 nodes in it, I can't use the free version of Nessus to scan it because there are only 16 IP addresses. I can't get an accurate scan. The biggest thing with all the cybersecurity tools out there nowadays, especially in 2020, is that there's a rush to get a lot of skilled cybersecurity analysts out there. Some of these companies need to realize that a lot of us are working from home and doing proof of concepts, and some of them don't even offer trials, or you get a trial and it is only 16 IP addresses. I can't really do anything with it past 16. I'm either guessing or I'm doing double work to do my scans. Let's say there was a license for 50 users or 50 IP addresses. I would spend about 200 bucks for that license to accomplish my job. This is the biggest complaint I have as of right now with all cybersecurity tools, including Rapid7, out there, especially if I'm in a company that is trying to build its cybersecurity program. How am I going to tell my boss, who has no real budget of what he needs to build his cybersecurity program, to go spend over $100,000 for a tool he has never seen, whereas, it would pack the punch if I could say, "Let me spend 200 bucks for a 50 user IP address license of this product, do a proof of concept to scan 50 nodes, and provide the reason for why we need it." I've been a director, and now I'm an ISO. When I was a director, I had a budget for an IT department, so I know how budgets work. As an ISO, the only thing that's missing from my C-level is I don't have to deal with employees and budgets, but I have everything else. It's hard for me to build the program and say, "Hey, I need these tools." If I can't get a trial, I would scratch that off the list and find something else. I'm trying to set up Tenable.io to do external PCI scans. The documentation says to put in your IP addresses or your external IP addresses. However, if the IP address is not routable, then it says that you have to use an internal agent to scan. This means that you set up a Nessus agent internally and scan, which makes sense. However, it doesn't work because when you use the plugin and tell it that it is a PCI external, it says, "You cannot use an internal agent to scan external." The documentation needs to be a little bit more clear about that. It needs to say if you're using the PCI external plugin, all IP addresses must be external and routable. It should tell the person who's setting it up, "Wait a minute. If you have an MPLS network and you're in a multi-tenant environment and the people who hold the network schema only provide you with the IP addresses just for your tenant, then you are not going to know what the actual true IP address that Tenable needs to do a PCI scan." I've been working on Tenable.io to set up PCI scans for the last ten days. I have been going back and forth to the network thinking I need this or that only to find out that I'm teaching their team, "Hey, you know what, guys? I need you to look past your MPLS network. I need you to go to the edge's edge. Here's who you need to ask to give me the whitelist to allow here." I had the blurb that says the plugin for external PCI must be reachable, and you cannot use an internal agent. I could have cut a few days because I thought I had it, but then when I ran it, it said that you can't run it this way. I wasted a few hours in a day. In terms of new features, it doesn't require new features. It is a tool that has been out there for years. It is used in the cybersecurity community. It has got the CV database in it, and there are other plugins that you could pass through. It has got APIs you can attach to it. They can just improve the database and continue adding to the database and the plugins to make sure those don't have false positives. If you're a restaurant and you focus on fried chicken, you have no business doing hamburgers.""Online learning could be a bit better.""There is room, overall, for improvement in the way it groups the workstations and the way it detects, when the vulnerability is scanned. Even when we would run a new scan, if it was an already existing vulnerability, it wouldn't put a new date on it.""EQA's and dashboards should be addressed in the next release.""The reporting is a bit cumbersome."

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"The solution must be promoted more in the market.""They need to have more dependable and faster support.""The UI has room for improvement.""Users get confused between VPR and CVSS ratings.""I would like the solution to cover the whole cycle of mitigation since it's an area where the solution currently lacks.""The interface could be improved; right now it's running on two interfaces simultaneously.""They should include better customization of the dashboard, and integration tools.""The only drawback of the solution is that it is expensive."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is much more manageable versus other products."
  • "The price of Tenable Nessus is much more competitive versus other solutions on the market."
  • "I think the price is fairly affordable. It provides a license that is fair."
  • "Nowadays, your vulnerability applications are going to be kind of pricey because lots of them, including Rapid7, are based upon a base price, but then they add in the nodes. That's where they get you. If you're a big network, obviously, you need to scan everything. Therefore, it's going to be costly. The risk and insurance money associated with having ransomware on my networks is going to cost me more money, time, and marketing than the price of the tool. That's why I'm speaking only as an information security officer to security operations. This is the tool that is there in my toolbox to say whether we vulnerable or not. At this point, I don't care about how much it costs my company to have it because if I wasn't able to report it and we got ransomware, then who cares? I'm probably going to be out of business because it happened. That's why I don't care about the price. I have it, and I could use it effectively and do my report. At the end of the day, even if we get ransomware, as long as I reported it, followed my protocol, and put in the change, irrespective of whether it was ignored or denied, I did my job."
  • "We pay approximately $2,500 on a yearly basis."
  • "We have a subscription, the licensing fees are paid yearly, and I am using the latest version."
  • "We incurred a single cost for a perpetual license, although I cannot comment on the price as this is above my management level."
  • "The price is reasonable."
  • More Tenable Nessus Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "There are additional features that can be licensed for an additional cost."
  • "The solution is not too expensive."
  • "Tenable.io Vulnerability Management's pricing solution model isn't great."
  • "The total cost we pay for this solution is over 45K. This is for a large education organization."
  • "Compared to other VM solutions, Tenable.io Vulnerability Management is expensive."
  • "On a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high price, I rate the pricing an eight. So, it is a pretty expensive solution."
  • "Tenable.io is not known for being a cheap product."
  • "A yearly payment has to be made toward the solution's licensing costs."
  • More Tenable Vulnerability Management Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Netanya Carmi
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:You have full visibility across cloud, network, virtual, and containerized infrastructures with Rapid7 Insight VM. You can easily prioritize vulnerabilities using attacker analytics. Overall, Rapid7… more »
    Top Answer: Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability assessment solution that is both easy to deploy and easy to manage. The design of the program is such that if a company should desire to handle the installation… more »
    Top Answer:I would rate Tenable's dashboards and reporting capabilities for illustrating security posture a nine out of ten, with ten being the best.
    Top Answer:It's a fantastic product, but there are some things to consider. One is the price. Compared to on-prem solutions, the SaaS model can be expensive. Price is definitely a concern and needs improvement… more »
    Top Answer:We have many other products available. Tenable can be compared to SOGo vulnerability management, for example. Tenable is an advanced solution. If you're looking for a high level of threat protection… more »
    Ranking
    3rd
    Views
    11,889
    Comparisons
    8,672
    Reviews
    30
    Average Words per Review
    420
    Rating
    8.4
    2nd
    Views
    13,978
    Comparisons
    11,185
    Reviews
    25
    Average Words per Review
    469
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Tenable.io
    Learn More
    Overview

    Tenable Nessus is a vulnerability management solution that aims to empower organizations to be aware of threats that both they and their customers face. It is the most deployed scanner in the vulnerability management industry. Organizations that use this product have access to the largest continuously updated global library of vulnerability and configuration checks. They can stay ahead of threats that Tenable Nessus’s competitors may be unable to spot. Additionally, Tenable Nessus supports a greater number of technologies than its competitors.

    Tenable Nessus Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying Tenable Nessus include:

    • Ease of use. Tenable Nessus is designed with security administrators in mind. It is built so that users can manipulate it intuitively without having to undergo special systems training. Users can create security policies with the greatest level of ease and can initiate scans of their entire networks with only a few clicks.
    • Support and resources. Tenable Nessus has both a support system of clarification resources and technical support for users to rely on. The solution has a resource center that contains guides and tips that can clarify things that confuse users and can aid them in gaining the maximum level of value. Additionally, users can reach out to Tenable Nessus’s technical support team, which is available around the clock and is reachable via a number of methods. This makes it simple for users to get help if they need it.
    • Reduction of threat vectors. Tenable Nessus provides users with the ability to reduce the number of potential threat vectors that a hacker can exploit. It enables users to find where the vulnerabilities in their networks are so their security won’t be compromised. They can then quickly address those weak points and head off issues before any have the chance to arise.

    Tenable Nessus Features

    • Report customization. Tenable Nessus enables users to customize the security reports that their system produces. They are able to set Tenable Nessus to generate reports that contain the information that is most relevant to their business objectives. Users can also utilize these report customization capabilities to customize the formats of their reports.
    • Vulnerability triage capability. Included in the Tenable Nessus security suite is a feature that enables users to conduct a triage of their vulnerabilities. The solution can apply one of five ratings to vulnerabilities that it detects. This makes it possible for organizations to work on addressing issues by order of severity.
    • Scaling. Tenable Nessus can scale to meet an organization’s needs by migrating the network that it is connected to, to other Tenable solutions. Users can scale up their systems as their security demands increase. It is capable of reaching hundreds of thousands of systems.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Tenable Nessus is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its ease of use and its vulnerability scanning feature.

    Rallis F., the principal security architect at a technology vendor, writes, “The ease of use is the primary valuable feature. This specific version is very straightforward. I like the ability to modify it and configure it based on the different policies.”

    Sandip D., a cyber security expert at Birlasoft India Ltd, writes, “The vulnerability scanner is the most valuable feature. It's an important feature for us. We use the plugin output for that. It shows us the exact version of Nessus and what is needed for remediation. Based on that, we decide what should be remediated first to get the best result for security.”

    Managed in the cloud and powered by Tenable Nessus, Tenable Vulnerability Management (formerly Tenable.io) provides the industry's most comprehensive vulnerability coverage with real-time continuous assessment of your organization. Built-in prioritization, threat intelligence and real-time insight help you understand your exposures and proactively prioritize remediations.

    Sample Customers
    Bitbrains, Tesla, Just Eat, Crosskey Banking Solutions, Covenant Health, Youngstown State University
    Global Payments AU/NZ
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Security Firm9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization33%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Security Firm25%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise38%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise42%
    Large Enterprise42%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business51%
    Midsize Enterprise3%
    Large Enterprise46%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise51%
    Buyer's Guide
    Tenable Nessus vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Tenable Nessus vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Tenable Nessus is ranked 3rd in Vulnerability Management with 37 reviews while Tenable Vulnerability Management is ranked 2nd in Vulnerability Management with 28 reviews. Tenable Nessus is rated 8.4, while Tenable Vulnerability Management is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Tenable Nessus writes "Reasonably priced, reliable, and flexible". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tenable Vulnerability Management writes "Though it is scalable and has an easy setup phase in place, the solution is an expensive one ". Tenable Nessus is most compared with Qualys VMDR, Rapid7 InsightVM, Tenable Security Center, Pentera and Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, whereas Tenable Vulnerability Management is most compared with Tenable Security Center, Qualys VMDR, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, Amazon Inspector and Rapid7 InsightVM. See our Tenable Nessus vs. Tenable Vulnerability Management report.

    See our list of best Vulnerability Management vendors.

    We monitor all Vulnerability Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.